Intercultural Communication and Translation News

So, how many LSPs out there carry out regular competition research? Small or large, it is crucial for any business to understand how its pricing structure compares against others.

At Kwintessential, we carry out such research on a regular basis (sorry competitors but I’m sure you guys have asked us for a few quotes too!)

Why? Well for 5 simple, yet critical, reasons:

1) To assess where we are in terms of our pricing model. Are we expensive? Cheap? In the middle? Are the prices against languages realistic?
2) To assess what clients are getting for their money. For example, in the research below, ALS applied translation memory to their quote report and thus a reduced rate occurred due to repetition of terms; some agencies counted symbols in the sample text we sent them, others didn’t; one agency would only price including proofreading (which meant we left them out of the results); and so on. Essentially we want to know whether others are approaching texts in different ways to ourselves.
3) To assess any “extra” charges. Surprisingly some LSPs came back to our quotes with an extra charge for project managing!
4) To assess response times and customer service levels. How long did it take for them to respond to our email? Did they follow us up on the quote?
5) To assess what we need to change to stay competitive!

So, if you aren’t already carrying out competition research, I suggest you do. Try us out and if there are any shortcomings make sure you let me know!!

Here is an example of what we did back in September 2011. One of our team was tasked with carrying out a random check of prices, turnaround times, response times, etc. including ourselves (i.e. secret shopper style). A document was chosen to send out, in this case a questionnaire with a word count of 623. It was general subject matter and we wanted it translated into six languages: Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Arabic and Urdu.

A group of agencies were chosen randomly once we had compiled a list from ITI, ATC and GALA. Eeny meeny miny mo and voila we have some competitors to rank ourselves against.

Now for the sake of brevity we will only look at the pricing metrics here. Our full report covered everything outlined above from response times to what their prices included and everything in between.

Once we gather all the raw data, we pop it into Excel and start playing with sums and charts. Essentially what you want to do is see where your company sits with any given metric. So below you can see when it came to pricing, Kwintessential are under-charging our clients! Well, we think what we charge is fair but at least it shows what the marketplace is doing.

A word of warning, this is a snap-shot of one document into several languages. Had we sent a different document with different languages then this chart may look very different. Don’t take this chart as meaning Agency A is always going to be the most expensive and Agency Z the least.

On top of this there will be some variations due to what agencies can/can’t offer. The rates above cover translating only. A few agencies came back with proofreading included, some with proofreading as an option and some without any mention of it. A few even wanted to certify the document as part of the process. Plus we also had the agency asking for extra to project manage the job. ALS and Global Lingo applied translation memory in their quote report and thus, a reduced rate occurred due to repetition( bravo to those guys). Not all agencies we approached offered all the languages we wanted, which meant they were not included in the final list. In terms of language pairs, the majority of the agencies charged more for Chinese/Arabic/Urdu and less for French/German/Spanish. However some agencies charged the exact opposite which was interesting.

So, as you can see a little bit of effort and a little bit of planning gives you immense insight into your company as well as your competitors. Try it out – let me know how it goes.

by +Neil Payne

The words ‘social media’ can sound a bit scary for some; they were for me anyway before I started to look into it all. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more! However, rather than being anything scary, it is actually a really useful tool for anyone in business. But especially for new businesses or those who run their own business, such as translators and interpreters.

There are many positives to using social media, as long as you do a bit of research before using it, it can be really effective and create some ‘buzz’ around you and/or your business.

Here are some positives:

Linguist image: It can enhance a linguist’s image and allow them to target information in the right direction and in the right manner.
Range of users: Word of mouth has been used for years as a way of marketing. Think of networks such as Twitter and Google+ as another mouth. Use keywords and hyperlinks to your website to make your services known to agencies, etc.
Customer Feedback: Monitor and respond. Any positive feedback is good. With social media, negative feedback can be dealt with more quickly and it looks more professional to potential clients.
Generates business: Easy, free but professional. It is becoming more widely used globally and it increases traffic to your website.

As with every type of marketing, there are also some negatives to using social media as a marketing technique.

Commitment: You need to be able to commit time and resources to manage your network presence, respond to feedback and produce new content.
Results: There is no way of monitoring how much business that you have generated from marketing this way. (Although there are now some good tools coming out that can track these such as Social Mention)
Ineffective use: Failing to engage with customers or not responding to negative feedback damages any reputation that you have and makes you look unprofessional and, quite frankly, lazy.

A few final points:

• Social media is all about relationships. Create, develop, maintain.
• Be aware of the network’s etiquette.
• Create a manageable amount of relevant & useful contacts (around 150 valued contacts is about right)
• Be new, original and engaging. Don’t write boring rubbish e.g.: ‘About to tuck in to my favourite sandwich’. Your business contacts don’t want to hear it (and neither does anyone else). Try creating a weekly theme to keep your contacts interested in you.

Basically, if social media is used correctly it is a very effective tool. I hope this article is helpful to any of you who (like I was) are completely confused about how to use social media.

by +Laura Thornton

Russia, like many other countries, has its differences in terms of culture and how to do business. So if you are going to do business in Russia it is important to learn and understand these differences so your trip goes smoothly.

Russia is undergoing some radical changes at the moment due to the removal of the old order; this has left a big gap in Russia both politically and economically. Although the old order is gone many Russian companies are still under the old laws of the soviet Union which are no longer valid and the new laws are constantly being re-written so cannot be enforced.

The only things that can be relied on are the close personal relationships in the workplace and a strong level of trust when forming agreements because if the business relationship falls apart the legal aspect of the agreement will end up meaning very little.

When dealing with a potential client or partner in Russia it is essential that you find out who is in the highest ranks, as Russian organisations are usually driven by one powerful person who makes all the strategic decisions without consulting anyone else other than a few trusted advisors.  By finding out who that this person is you will save yourself a lot of time and effort than trying to gain answers from someone in a lower ranking.

Russian companies tend to have a focused interest in the short term of business activities so make sure you can provide the company with the short term benefits that they can gain from joining you as well as the long term benefits.

If team work is required it is best to allow the team to get to know each other well and then keep this team together as they will be more efficient if they have developed close bonds with each other, there should also be an appointed team leader who will be able to deliver clear instructions and show that they are in control.

Knowledge of the English language will vary greatly in Russia, some will be fluent in English as well as other languages and some will know very little. It is important to find out in advance if an interpreter will be required to prevent communication issues occurring.

More emphasis is usually put on the spoken word than the written, where possible aim to speak directly to the client or potential partner as this will be more efficient in getting the information across than sending the information in just the written format.

During meetings Russians tend to give little verbal or visual feedback, do not take this as a sign of disinterest or lack of understanding as it usually means that they are taking their time to think about the information given before replying.

A high percentage of the Russian workplace is made up of women, however, it is rare to find them in high level positions and if you are a woman going to work in Russia be prepared to be greeted with the old traditions of courtesy but ignored or treated as inferior by the male colleagues in meetings even if you are of a higher rank than them.

Russians tend to dress as well as they can based on their salary, it is important to look smart and appear to be dressed expensively as this will enhance the first impression you give to the client and in turn increase your credibility.
Remember that the weather in Russia can be very extreme, especially in the winter, so make sure you find out the weather conditions of where you are going and dress accordingly.

by +Steph Lyons

In order to gain the most out of business trips abroad it is important to be able to adapt to and understand their culture if it is different to your own.

By doing this you are showing respect to the people you are meeting and can also greatly improve communication between the two parties.

In this article I will be outlining some tips to keep in mind if you decide to do business in Brazil:

•    Firstly, be aware of the costs of doing business in Brazil, this can include governmental inefficiency, excessive taxation, legal and bureaucratic complications, corruption etc. This can be a very frustrating and high risk issue for international business people so look into forming close links with local accountants and lawyers so you don’t get caught out.

•    Try to find out the hierarchical business structure of the potential partner as most decisions are done at a senior level, so you don’t want to end up dealing with someone who does not have the required authority to make important decisions for the company as this could cause a big delay in getting answers from the organisation. If you do find out the hierarchal structure be aware of the fact that it may not be 100% correct due to the effect of personal relationships with in the organisation.

•    A good relationship between employees is of great importance, the boss and other employees work hard to build and maintain a professional relationship that is based on trust and respect.  If you do need to ask the subordinates to complete a task ensure you provide clear and detailed instructions, if the task is not completed properly question your instructions first before questioning the employees.

•    When attending a meeting in Brazil keep in mind the following:

-    Initial meetings are usually formal but subsequent meetings tend to be less formal and could start off with some casual banter, don’t hurry this part as it will help to form a good relationship with the others and the last thing you want is to come across as impatient or rushed.
-    Punctuality is not of high importance and meetings may start and finish later than planned, try not to become frustrated or annoyed if this happens as the potential relationship you are building is more important than set agendas.
-    Brazilians can appear very emotional in meetings, this is just an expression of their commitment and does not necessarily mean a lack of control or that they are angry.
-    It is also common for exaggerated language to be used and can be combined with a close proximity and continual eye contact, it is important to adapt to these communication styles quickly as becoming reserved to their ways could come across as you being unfriendly.
-    Although many people in the higher ranks will most likely speak English, it is not commonly spoken throughout Brazil so it is a good idea to look into hiring an Interpreter during your visit. Ensure the Interpreter is Portuguese and does not interpret in Spanish as the Brazilians take pride in being non-Spanish speakers and it would be seen as disrespectful if the interpreter speaks in Spanish.

•    If your trip requires a lot of team working it is important to allow everyone to get to know each other to form those highly valued relationships.

•    Oral communication is used more often than the written word so if you do send something in the written format it is wise to follow up with a call or visit.

•    Women in Brazil are welcomed into the business world, but it is unlikely you will come across women in the highest and most senior levels of an organisation. Saying this, the old ways are not forgotten by Brazilian men in the sense that they may not allow a woman to pay for a lunch or will make an effort to compliment women on they appearance or looks.

•    Finally, dress code is very important and formal, it is vital that you look your best as first impressions are highly valued in the initial stages of the relationship building process.

by +Steph Lyons

If you need a translation doing there are two ways of going about it. You can go online and ask a robot to firstly understand your language and secondly, translate it into a different language. Or you can use a company of human translators to do the work for you. Some say that the online way is the way of the future; personally, I believe that the world we live in relies on technology, to give them the answer, far too much.

Online translation could be the answer to all your problems… or it could make so many more that you now have to spend four times more money, and effort, than you would have spent trying to find a professional and reliable translator to sort the mistakes that are now in your document. If only you had made a phone call, or sent an email, to that translation company your friend told you about; things might have been easier and cheaper, in the long run for you. Not only this, but you would know that your translation was being dealt with professionally by a trustworthy and friendly translation company.

If you have translated your document and need to check that it is OK, an online translation can be a good way of checking. But it is still not reliable. Especially if the document you have is, for example, a private letter. A translation company could find you a native translator who knows the ‘local lingo’ of the area you are sending it to, making your letter a lot more personal.
If I were to give any advice for anyone to follow, it would be this; any important documents (anything from a CV to a medical or legal document) I would take it to a translation company. At least then, you know that you have a reliable document to give to people. Also, as a business owner, I think that you would be foolish not to use a company for your translations. Your business relations could break down before they have even started!

So, online translations – the way of the future? From looking into it, I think not 100%. At the end of the day it’s your document, your decision. My choice? Now I have seen what a professional translation team does they would win hands down every time.

by +Laura Thornton

Some recent findings by The London School of English show language and culture are still not getting the attention they deserve within companies today.In fact, the spirit of Basil Fawlty seems to live on within some British businesses!

Despite the Government pinning hopes on UK PLC exporting, it brings into question whether UK companies are thinking globally or relying on the rest of the world to think and act in such a manner?

The findings suggest that, “UK-based businesses could be risking international growth by failing to invest in cross-cultural, language and communications training.”

The results spwan from research carried out that questioned 100 HR directors on their attitudes towards language and communication skills and their approach to training.

“These centenary research results show a shocking lacking of regard for our international, non-native English speaking business partners,” says Timothy Blake, Chief Executive of the London School of English. “The Brits may be reluctant to learn other languages, but this research suggests that we are not even prepared to invest in the training required to adapt our own language, accents and behaviour to help non-native English speakers understand us.”

Headline findings in the report include:

•    78% HR Directors questioned did not consider it necessary to train native English speakers to moderate their vocabulary when negotiating with non-native English speakers
•    98% believed their non-native English speakers could communicate effectively in English.
•    Although 67% of those questioned believed that it was “very important” for business people to have a good cultural understanding of their trading partners; only 23% would offer training.
•    Only 4% believed the “Basil Fawlty” approach of speaking “more loudly” would be effective in communicating with non-native English speakers.

Worrying stuff isnt it?

by +Neil Payne

Translators (freelancers anyway) need to find work. How can they find work? Through developing contacts. Today social networking sites are one of the best means of developing these contacts.

There are many social networking sites that you could join to promote your translation business; these include sites like Twitter, Facebook and Flixter. However, there is only one social networking site which stands out for business use and that is LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is the only social networking site that has grown through more professionals connecting together than friends connecting.
The site was originally used as an insider’s approach for job posting and job searching, but in the last few years it has flourished into a community for all industry sectors and in 2008 its population increased significantly by gaining a vast international presence.

LinkedIn continues to be localized with over 5 million users in Europe and with several European languages now available it is becoming ever more popular in Europe and is now starting to gain popularity in Asia.

Due to LinkedIn’s success in localization, the site has become extremely popular with the language, translation and localization industry and is often used to place jobs, news updates, discuss industry trends, conduct surveys and ask/answer questions.

You can use it as a way to gain new information and build new connections to get your translation business noticed, below are a few tips to help you get the most out of LinkedIn:

•    Build your own personal profile for free and include as much information as you can, you will be asked to include your employment background, what your current employment is, your industry focus, your education and a picture.

•    You can gain recommendations on LinkedIn from other LinkedIn users; these will show up on your profile and can act as a testimonial to your work.

•    For your selected industry type your homepage will show you upcoming events, discussions and questions from other LinkedIn users in the same industry. This will help you to keep up to date with all the latest news in your selected industry.

•    Join network groups to help you connect with other professionals in the same industry as you, once you have joined a group you can then join in on all their discussions. This is a good way to show your knowledge in the industry and to gain new information from others.

Now that you have your LinkedIn profile up and running you can also expand your professional social networking presence by joining other sites like Twitter.

by +Steph Lyons

29th October 2011 – University of the West of England, Bristol

10 AM, 29th October 2011

Day Event hosted by SIETAR UK and University of the West of England, Bristol

Venue: University of the West of England, Bristol, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY

In recognition of the significance of efficient communication in modern complex workplaces there has been an explosion of interest in cultural diversity and intercultural (IC) facilitation and training. Leading training companies in the UK report a steady growth in demand for training over the past few years and studies on IC skills/competence and IC training provide evidence suggesting that training is of benefit to trainees but also to the companies as a whole. Intercultural communication discourses have also become dominant in social life and found their way into policy documents (e.g. National Occupational Standards for Intercultural Working) referring to the skills an individual needs to have or acquire in order to interact ‘successfully’ and work ‘efficiently’ in multinational/multilingual contexts. What is particularly relevant to the IC field however is the scarcity of work bridging theory and practice. Accordingly the aim of this one day event is to bring academic research closer to professional practice and for the experience of the IC trainers and practitioners to feed back into academic research.

For further programme details please contact: Dr Jo Angouri (Jo.Angouri@uwe.ac.uk)

Preliminary programme

10.00 Conference Opening

10.30-11.30 Celia Roberts, King’s College, London

11.30-12.00 Coffee break

12.00-13.00 Carlos Gonzalez-Carrasco, Transcultural Business Group

13.00-14.00 Lunch break

14.00-15.00 Francesca Bargiela-Chiappini, University of Warwick

15.00-16.00 George Simons, Diversophy

16.00-17.30: Round table and Coffee: Details tbc

17.30. Conference Close

Registration:

SIETAR members and BAAL conference delegates: £65

Non members: £90

Students: £35

Details on how delegates can register a be found here.

Some people may have missed yesterday’s announcement over the creation of the first Technology and Innovation Centre in High Value Manufacturing (HVM). Business Secretary Vince Cable announced the details of the new centre which will receive more than £140 million over the next six years.

Yes, not the most thrilling piece of news. However, for a company such as ours it says two things (which are more thrilling). Firstly, that the government realises one of the only ways of getting UK PLC out of the current economic stagnation is to export. We have to sell more abroad – more products and more services. This is just one of the latest moves designed to get the country innovating and selling. UKTI also continue to do great work in supporting companies and assisting them in creating opportunities. Secondly, and as a result of the previous point, this boosts B2B services such as translation, interpreting, DTP, web design, packaging, etc. (which we do!) which exporters will need.

From our perspective this gives us confidence that the country will continue to focus on exporting, and we can concentrate on supporting the exporters.

So what is ‘High Value Manufacturing’ Centre?

The HVM centre is designed to help stimulate manufacturing in the UK. On top of this it aims to reduce the risk of innovation for new and established UK manufacturing businesses, plus attract international business.

The centre will help to kick-start a sustained manufacturing revival by commercialising science – taking ideas from the drawing board to help make them into real products. The seven regional facilities forming the centre are:

• Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Rotherham, part of University of Sheffield)
• Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Rotherham)
• Manufacturing Technology Centre (Coventry)
• Advanced Forming Research Centre (University of Strathclyde)
• National Composite Centre (University of Bristol)
• Centre for Process Innovation (Wilton & Sedgefield)
• Warwick Manufacturing Group (University of Warwick)

By incorporating the seven institutions, the HVM Technology and Innovation Centre will support a number of different industries including pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, food & beverages, healthcare, aerospace, automotive, energy, chemicals and electronics.

Useful Links

A few useful links around manufacturing and exporting include:

1. Vince Cable’s Speech on HVM – delivered yesterday at Design Centre, Islington, London
2. Manufacturing for Export – great PDF guide from British Chambers of Commerce
3. UKTI – information for exporters
4. Rethinking Growth – excellent publication from EEF
5. See Inside Manufacturing – Find out more about how you can go behind the scenes within a manufacturing environment.

by +Neil Payne

Translating an advert into a foreign language needs to make sense and register an understanding in the target culture.

This is done by adapting the original document, which means a linguistic and cultural transference from the original to the target translation.

A well-adapted translation will fulfil the original document by reflecting the correct meaning and nuances in a way that is relevant to the culture in question.

There are many aspects that need to be considered when adapting a translation:

•    The aim of a good adaptation is for it to read as though it were originally written in the target language so it is a good idea to compare your own budget to the budget for the adaptation/translation and consider what damages may occur from a poor translation.

•    Consider where your translation will be going and what may be different in the following points:
-    Cultural differences
-    Religion
-    Humour- what they may find funny or offensive
-    How they may  view the product differently to you

•    Test your ideas in the target market before committing to them; hire a market- based expert to test your ideas so you know what will most likely work and what won’t.

•    When writing the copy you should think about the assumptions and associations the English copy relies on and see if these apply in other foreign markets. If so, the concept should work, if not, more problems are likely to occur and may need reviewing.

•    Ensure idioms and colloquialisms used have a translatable version that the target market will understand, good translators should be able to alter the words so that they will have the same meaning in the foreign culture.

•    Be careful using brand names, they may be well known in English speaking markets but not necessarily in other markets. If it is not a well know brand in the other markets the viewers may not fully understand your concept.

•    Use an adaptation brief to help ensure that the foreign adaptations will be a success. This should include the context of the wording to provide a background as to how the words need to be applied; who the target market is; what needs to be adapted and what issues could occur.

•    When using an adaptation brief make sure you invest a good amount of time and effort into creating it, as the more information you provide for the translator the better the translated copy will be.

•    If possible, include a visual reference with the adaptation brief as it will help the translator to understand the concept of the text given and to ensure the correct meanings are used.

•    Once the document has been translated make sure you get the work proof read, this reduces the risk of errors arising in the final copy. You could also get a back translation done, which means the document would be put back into the original language so viewers who cannot read the target language can make sure there are no omissions or misunderstandings in the translated document.

by +Steph Lyons